Covert Op
by whump-2-go
Summary: This is the conclusion to Cokie316's story Bad Intel.


_**This is the conclusion to Bad Intel. We hope you will enjoy this little story.**_

* * *

 **Covert Op**

 _ **By Sym64 and Cokie316**_

Lou Grover could not wipe the smile from his face. He was a single man. Well, at least for the next eight days. He had just dropped off Renee and his kids at the airport terminal for their flight to visit Renee's mother in Chicago.

His future looked bright on this Friday afternoon. His plan for the next eight days was to walk around the house in his underwear, watch as much football as he wanted on the big screen and enjoy greasy take-out and beer on the couch every night. Lou loved his wife and kids, but damn, sometimes the quiet was oh-so-nice. No honey-do list, homework crises or fighting kids to interrupt his down time.

Grover was headed toward the exit when he saw something that stopped him in his tracks. He took a step closer to make sure he was seeing who he thought it was. And he was right.

Seated in one of the long rows of cushioned seats along the window was Catherine Rollins. Lou didn't know what she was doing here, but it didn't take a detective to see that she was upset. She sat with her head down, scrolling through her phone but Lou had seen her wipe away a tear. He had just left Steve a little more than an hour ago before he picked up his family. The two men had made plans to meet for dinner later on, so Lou knew Steve hadn't made any plans with Cath. Besides, she was sitting in the airport with a carry on at her feet. There was a ticket sticking out of the pocket of her bag; looked like she was leaving.

He moved behind a pillar so that he could keep an eye on her, but was out of her line of sight if she happened to glance his way. Making a quick decision, he pulled out his phone. It was time for someone to make a move, and if he had to interfere, then so be it.

" _Hey, Grover, you decide to get on the plane with them and go visit the mother-in-law_?" Steve teased when he answered the call.

"That would be a 'hell, no'. But everyone else is cleared for takeoff. Are you home yet?"

" _Yeah, I just got in,"_ Steve told him, looking at his first beer. _"What's up?"_

"Change of plans. How about we meet here at the airport instead of the Hilton? How quickly can you be here?"

" _Well, if traffic is flowing, half hour by the time I park the truck. You sure you want to meet there?"_

"Yeah, I am. Meet me in Concourse C. And don't dawdle."

" _C? What's to eat in there?"_ Steve asked.

"I got it covered," Grover assured him. "Now get a move on." Grover pocketed his phone before his friend could ask any more questions. Now the hard part.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve looked at his phone. _What the heck was that all about?_ He mumbled to himself while heading out the door.

Just a little over an hour ago his friend had left HQ to pick up his family, and they were not supposed to meet until later tonight. Steve actually was looking forward to spending some time with Lou. He had become a great friend over the last years.

They had formed a strong bond, and Steve valued his friendship and found it easy to talk to him. Not just every day talk, but about important stuff. Things that weighed heavy on his mind. Things he couldn't talk to anyone else about.

Lou just got him. Lou never judged him, but still gave him an honest opinion. Especially lately he had needed those opinions. First there had been the disaster with finding out about Catherine, that she had not gone to Nepal but was working for NI, or the CIA, or whatever secret organization. Point was, she had lied to him about where she was going. He understood that she probably had no choice, at least that is what he was telling himself. Telling himself that he would have done the same thing. But had he really?

Lou had been there for him, had helped him sort through not only his feelings, but also through his anger. Anger at himself and at her. Steve knew he was nowhere near over Catherine, and nowhere near through his anger and hurt. But talking to Lou had helped in keeping his raging emotions in check.

And then Lou had been there when he had been furious with his partner. Danny. He loved the guy; but he could make his blood boil. And lately it happened more often than not.

He had been at a point to write Danny up for insubordination. He had been not just furious at his friend; he had been beyond angry. He still was.

Danny had endangered his team. His team. All of them. The aftermath of the roof incident had not been pretty; and he knew that Danny had not understood what he had done. It was one thing to bitch about something in the privacy of the car, and it was one thing to call him names in the privacy of the car. But questioning his decisions, openly saying that he didn't trust his leader, his boss. That had gone too far. For the first time in their partnership Steve had not let something like that slide. He had called Danny in his office and called him out on his behavior.

Steve shook his head thinking back at the total lack of understanding on Danny's part.

"It's my way of dealing with a stressful situation," Danny had yelled.

"Not on a roof under those circumstances. That is not acceptable." Steve's answer had been calm despite the anger he felt.

"Not acceptable? Not everyone can be such a cold, fearless machine like you, Steven."

Those had been the last words they had spoken – two days ago. Steve had looked at his friend without saying anything, shook his head and simply left. Enough was enough; had he stayed he would have said something they both would regret. Danny had taken a couple of days off, which probably was also for the best.

It was Lou who had talked him down. By drinking him under the table. Steve again laughed thinking about waking up with a killer headache in Lou's guest room. With no recollection of how he got there. Thankfully Renee had only laughed at the two men.

Steve turned into the parking lot and found a space not too far from the entry. Parking the car, he again wondered why Lou wanted to meet him here instead of the Hilton. A minute later he was on his way into the airport.

H50 – H50 – H50

Catherine didn't look like she was moving anytime soon, so he stopped in at the airport sundry shop and walked around, keeping an eye on her from the open doorway. Lou thought he would give Steve a bit more time to arrive before confronting her in case she decided to bolt as soon as she saw him. He didn't think him chasing a female through the airport would look too good on his resume.

After a few minutes, Grover glanced at his watch and sighed before walking to the opposite side of the terminal. It was time for action. He sat down in a seat one down from Catherine. She continued to scroll through her phone although he felt she wasn't even conscious of her actions.

"So, you come here often?"

She jerked at the sound of his voice. "What?" She glanced his direction and then did a double take. "Lou."

"Hey, Catherine. Long time no see."

Cath set her phone on her knee and pushed the hair back behind her ear. "Ah, I guess so," she said with a hesitant smile. "Yeah, about this," she started to explain. "I, uh, I'm waiting for my flight."

"I can see that. You here on business?"

"What? No, not really." She looked around and then down at her lap as if she wished she were anyplace but there.

 _Or most likely wished I was anyplace but here_ , he thought with a grin. "So, how you doing?" Lou asked in a quiet voice.

"I'm good," she quickly replied, again pushing back her hair.

"That didn't sound very convincing," Grover told her. "Want to try again?"

"Look, no one knows I'm here," she told him. "I'm trying to fly standby on the next flight out to Seattle. So, can we pretend that you never saw me? Please?" She added.

"As in don't mention to anyone that I saw you at the airport?"

Catherine nodded. "Yeah, exactly that."

"And why is that?" he grilled her.

"Because… well, it was a mistake to come here. I was going to… I thought I needed to clear up some things with Steve, but I didn't. I need to leave things as they are. All is good."

"Yeah, I can see how much you believe that," Grover deadpanned. "Seems like Steve should get a vote in that, too. Don't you think?"

"No, he has moved on. I don't need to mess up things for him. I don't know what I was thinking to come here."

"Catherine, I think you two need to talk. I don't know who told you Steve has moved on, but that isn't the case."

"I got it from a pretty reliable source," she whispered. Cath sighed and looked at Lou before standing up and reaching for her bag. "Look, Lou, I'm gonna go on back to my gate and camp out." She leaned in for a hug. "It was good seeing you."

"Lou?" a voice said from several feet away.

Catherine eased out of Lou's hug and glared at him. "You didn't," she whispered.

He rolled his eyes at her and turned to look at Steve who was standing there, hands on his hips, a 'deer in the headlights' look on his face.

"Steve, there you are," he called out to his friend. "I saw Catherine sitting here and I thought it was a perfect opportunity for the two of you to talk." He looked from one to the other. "I think you might want a chance to clear the air." He eased away from Catherine and moved toward Steve who continued to glare.

Steve's gaze shifted from Lou to Catherine who hadn't quite met his eyes. He looked back at Lou and nodded, reaching for his phone. "Do me a favor?"

Lou grinned. "You mean another one?"

Steve looked up at him through his lashes and opened his mouth to make a retort. Instead he shook his head and gave him a slight grin. "Yeah, I guess. Could you call HPD and the governor's office and tell them I'm taking the rest of the night off. If they have a case, they can call—"

"Hey, I'll take care of it. And I'll give them my name for contact. Hell, work might keep me out of trouble."

Steve set his phone to vibrate and put it back into his pocket. "If something major comes up, contact me."

"Will do, but why don't you take tomorrow as well? You deserve a day off. I'm sure we can muddle through without you."

Steve glanced at Cath and then looked back at Lou. "We'll see. Keep me posted if anything happens."

Lou nodded at him and then turned back to Catherine who remained standing behind him. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a kiss on her temple. "Don't hate me, Girlfriend."

She nodded and took a deep breath before he turned away. With a slap on Steve's arm, he propelled him closer to Cath in a not-so-subtle move. "Why don't you two just have a seat?"

Catherine rolled her eyes and plopped back down in her seat, dropping the bag at her feet. She looked at her fingernails, waiting to see what Steve was going to do.

With a sigh, he sat down in Grover's vacated seat. After a few moments, he asked, "So, are you here on a layover?"

"Not really," she finally admitted.

He was afraid she wasn't even going to talk to him, so he felt that was a start.

"You didn't have to change your plans tonight," she told him. "Or turn off your phone. You might get an important call."

"And maybe if I had turned off my phone a few times in the past, we wouldn't be sitting here like this."

Cath finally looked at him; a quizzed expression turned to worry when she saw the steri strips closing the gash on his forehead. "You're hurt, are you OK?" She stretched out her arm, but thought better of it and stopped mid-movement.

"I'm OK. The usual, you know… day at the office," Steve said and hoped to get at least a small smile out of her. But no such luck.

"OK." The quizzical look was back on her face. "Why do you think we wouldn't be sitting here?"

"Because I took you for granted. And no matter what was going on, I always put work first. I assumed you would always be there." He paused and then quietly added, "Until you weren't."

"Steve, this isn't your fault."

"Don't act like all the blame is yours, Cath. Because it isn't. Now… care to tell me why you are sitting in the Honolulu airport?"

She shook her head and didn't answer. "Look, I need to get to my gate. I'm flying stand by."

"You are here for a reason, Cath. Why run away now? At least talk to me. I think I at least deserve an explanation."

"I came because I wanted to talk to you… explain why I left like I did."

"So… here I am. Explain."

"I… can't."

"Cath…" Patience only goes so far.

She turned in her seat to face him. "Look, this was all a huge mistake. I shouldn't have come and now I really need to get to my gate." She reached down to pick up her bag when he snatched the ticket out of it.

"Hey!"

"Hang on," he said, holding it out of her reach while reading it. "Says here your flight isn't until Sunday. We've got time."

"I'm going stand-by tonight. Now give me that," she said, reaching for it.

He held it farther away. "So, Lieutenant, when did you lose your backbone?"

Cath made a leap and got the paper from him. "I did _**not**_ lose my backbone. I simply chose not to engage in a futile conversation." She again reached for her carry on.

Steve stood up and faced her. "Don't leave." He waited until she looked up at him. "Please." He swallowed and continued. "Can't we just talk?" He glanced down the concourse and nodded in that direction. "How about we go and get a drink?"

"Ah, no, no drinks." She sat back down. "If you feel we have to talk, we can do it here."

He sat down next to her. "OK, here's good."

They sat, neither making the first move.

"OK, why—"

"Steve, I—"

They both stopped and he said, "You first. After all, you traveled a long way to get here. I thought I was coming here to meet Lou for dinner."

"Sorry I messed up your plans."

"Hey, I was kidding," he said, reaching out his hand to touch her arm. But he drew back just shy of making contact and quickly wiped his hand on his leg.

She felt a pang of loss from his lack of touch, but swallowed down the hurt. "So, what was Lou doing here?" Cath asked.

"His wife and kids flew back to Chicago to visit. We were planning to meet at the Hilton but then he called and asked me to meet him here."

"I guess I ruined dinner," she whispered.

"Hell, Cath, I can eat anytime. Now, tell me why you came."

She took a deep breath and rubbed her hands on her jeans. "I can't stop thinking about how I left. I handled everything wrong. I was under orders, but I could have explained things a bit differently." She paused and then added, "Steve, I'm so sorry I hurt you. When I came home the last time that was never my intention."

"And why did you come home? The excuse about it being for Kono's wedding was a bit lame."

"I… I didn't lie. I wanted to see if you wanted me to stay. If we—"

"Hell of a way to handle things. I think even without us actually talking you knew I wanted you to stay here."

"I know. But—"

"Always a but isn't there?" he bitterly said.

"Steve, I…" She stopped and then finally turned in her seat to look at him. "I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, I think you said that before. It didn't help change your mind."

"When I left, there were… extenuating circumstances behind it. I had no choice."

"You had a choice not to lie," he pointed out.

She shook her head. "Actually, that's not true. I was _ordered_ to lie to you. So you wouldn't follow me. It's a long story. Hopefully… well, when I left, I thought I would have the chance to explain it all to you."

"Then explain."

"Steve, I can't. Not yet."

"Then why come back?"

"Don't you think I've not been sitting here asking myself that same question?" she hotly asked. "I came to say I was sorry, but then…"

"Then what?"

"Then I found out that you had moved on. That you were seeing someone."

Steve turned sideways in his seat. "Lou told you I was seeing someone?" he nearly shouted.

"No, Lou didn't say anything."

"Then how the hell did you get that idea?"

"It doesn't matter," she said, shaking her head. "Look, Steve, let me just leave. Everything is easier that way."

He threw up his arms. "Yeah, sure it's easier. Running away seems to be your specialty."

"That's not fair."

"Isn't it?" he countered. "Why can't you be honest for once?"

"I'm trying to make this easier for you. I know you have a girlfriend."

Steve huffed out a breath. "Where did you hear that? That's total BS. What gave you that idea?"

"Oh, really? Does Lynn know that? Because she seems to think otherwise," Cath called out, shaking her head.

"What? You met Lynn? How? When?"

Catherine closed her eyes and rubbed her hand over her face. "No, I didn't meet her. Not really."

"Then what? Cause I gotta say, this doesn't make a helluva lot of sense."

"OK, here it is. When I got here, I went to Island Brews at the end of the concourse. These three women came in and started talking. One was on a layover and asked Lynn how her love life was. And… Lynn shared. A lot, I might add. When I overheard 'leader of the governor's task force' mentioned, I listened."

Steve shook his head in disgust that he was the topic of a bar conversation. "What did she say?"

"I don't think I want to repeat that," Catherine admitted quietly. "You might want to talk to her."

"Cath, tell me what she said."

Catherine couldn't look at him. This was wrong on so many levels. "That you had issues, but she was working on them and would soon whip you into shape."

"Really?" He nodded at that revelation. "Did she also mention we haven't seen each other for at least three weeks? I've been busy."

"Yeah, she said you needed to quit working so hard and spend more time with her," Cath told him.

Steve snorted. "Yeah, that's not gonna happen." He paused looking around the airport before continuing in a quieter voice. "I know I told you I couldn't wait for you." He gave her a quick glance and then looked back down. "And I tried to move on. I really did. But after a few dates, I knew she wasn't the right kind of person for me. So I backed off."

"Steve, you deserve to be happy," Cath whispered.

"No more than the next person," he replied. "And we make our own happiness, don't we?"

"Not always."

"What else did she say?" Steve prodded. "She sort of found out about you a few months ago."

"Yeah, she mentioned that."

"And?"

"She, ah, she sort of told them she found something in your drawer."

He leaned over, placing his elbows on his knees and dropped his head in his open palms. "Shit."

"I'm so sorry," Cath said. "I didn't know."

"Yeah, just my dumb luck," Steve muttered. "For someone who is supposed to be able to read people, I sure did a lousy job of it."

"No you didn't," she admitted. "I wish I had known. I would have tried to figure things out."

"So, you're saying you would have stayed?" he asked, his voice skeptical. "Was the part about a relationship with me not being enough also a lie, or was that the truth?"

"I also told you that I would always love you. And that was no lie, Steve. I swear," Cath looked at him. "I think, had I known, I would have had some leverage in the job I had taken."

He turned to look at her. "What does that mean?"

"Steve, you of all people should know I can't talk about it. I'm sorry."

He gave her a wry grin. "Yeah, story of our lives, huh? Never in the right place at the right time."

"So, just so we're clear. You haven't moved on with Lynn?" she asked.

"I haven't moved on with Lynn or anyone else," he told her, leaning back and slouching in his seat.

"Why? You said you couldn't wait for me."

"That was pretty dumb, and probably the hurt talking. I… it hurt to wait for you… I think I didn't want to go through that again, so I lied. Dammit, I tried. I really did. But… everyone I met wasn't… well, she wasn't you. I honestly don't know if I _can_ move on. I certainly don't want to move on."

"Steve, I know I hurt you. Badly. Even though that was never my intention, it happened. And I can't fix that."

"I'm not asking you to 'fix' anything. Look, we're adults. Let's talk. Get a drink. Have dinner. Anything. Cath I enjoy being with you. More than I enjoy talking to anyone else. I don't know if that makes me needy or pathetic or what. But the bottom line is that I don't want you getting on a plane tonight."

"Us going out is probably not a smart move," she replied. "But I don't think you're pathetic. I've always enjoyed talking to you more than anyone else, too."

"Look, it's only dinner. Hell, I probably owe you like 300 dinners over the years."

"Well, 307, but who's counting?" she countered, finally smiling.

"At least," he agreed. "Only let's not eat at the airport. Grover and I were going to the Hilton. Is that OK?"

"If you're sure…"

Steve stood up and reached for her bag. "Let's go find some food."

"I've been craving sushi," she warned him as they started walking toward the exit.

"Then we'll order a bib and a shovel," he told her, grinning down at her.

She slapped him on the arm. "That's not funny." But his comment had made them both finally laugh.

"Steve?"

Both Steve and Catherine's heads jerked up at the sound, their smiles frozen on their faces. Three women stood in front of Island Brews and they all were staring. Steve could tell they were somewhere in between tipsy and inebriated and he didn't think any conversation would end well.

"Lynn. Uh, hey."

Lynn and her friends turned to Catherine. "You… Steve, isn't that your ex? The one who dumped you?"

"Lynn, this is Lieutenant Catherine Rollins."

She glanced at Catherine's duffel which was on Steve's shoulder. "I see."

"Hey," one of her friends said. "You were in the bar earlier. Waiting on him, I assume."

"Well, that's a wrong assumption," Cath told her, "but yes, I was in the bar."

"So, what's going on?" Lynn asked him.

"Look, Lynn, I'm sorry. We'll talk some other time." He glanced at Cath. "But right now, I have a dinner date with a friend."

Lynn looked at her now obviously ex-boyfriend and realized that he never had been her boyfriend in the first place. Then she looked Catherine up and down and stepped a little closer. "Don't hurt him again. He's a good guy." She then turned to her stunned friends. "Let's go back inside, I need another beer."

"Let's go," Steve said, placing his hand on the small of Catherine's back.

They made their way out of the airport, never looking back.


End file.
